Riyad Mahrez: Manchester City end pursuit of £95m-rated Leicester playmaker

City were only willing to pay up to £60m for the Algerian

Leicester playmaker Riyad Mahrez handed in a transfer request on Tuesday (Getty)

Manchester City have ended their pursuit of Riyad Mahrez, having refused to meet Leicester City’s £95m valuation of the playmaker.

Mahrez submitted a transfer request on Tuesday – his second in the space of a year at the King Power – after City made enquiries as to the player’s availability.

The 26-year-old winger did not travel with Claude Puel’s Leicester squad for their Premier League trip to Everton the following day as the two clubs held informal discussions over a potential deal.

It is understood that City were willing to pay up to £60m for the Algerian, but Leicester’s valuation of their former PFA Player of the Year was far higher.

As with the pursuit of Alexis Sanchez earlier this month, City have elected against meeting a selling club’s asking price for a transfer target.

City withdrew from the race to sign the former Arsenal forward earlier this month, claiming the cost of the deal was too great for a player nearing the end of his contract. The decision paved the way for Sanchez to join Manchester United.

Whereas Sanchez had just six months left to run on his Arsenal contract, Mahrez has two-and-a-half years remaining on his current deal at Leicester.

It remains to be seen as to whether City resume their pursuit of Mahrez when the transfer window reopens in the summer.

It is understood that the interest in Mahrez was unrelated to Leroy Sané suffering ankle ligament damage in Sunday’s 2-0 FA Cup fourth round victory over Cardiff City.

Sané is set to spend up to seven weeks on the sidelines, likely ruling him out of City’s forthcoming Champions League knock-out tie against Basel and the EFL Cup final with Arsenal at the end of next month.